Device for the treatment of endless textile material lengths

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for the treatment of endless textile material lengths which comprises a container means adapted to contain a treatment liquor and composed of a conveying zone and a dwell zone, partition means dividing the dwell zone into two channels and a perforated drum means subjected to a suction draft rotatably disposed in the conveying zone in such a manner that it is adapted to receive the textile material from one of the channels and introduce it into the other of said channels.

United States Patent [151 3,681,946 Fleissner [45] Aug. 8, 1972 [54] DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT OF 3,501,931 3/1970 Barriguand ..68/177 ENDLESS TEXTILE MATERIAL 3,374,646 3/1968 Fleissner ..68/D1G. 5 LENGTHS 3,289,439 12/1966 Hall ..68/15 [72] Inventor: Heinz Fleismer, Frankfurt am Main 2,133,823 10/1938 McClellan ..68/ 177 X Germany FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Assignee: Vepa AG, Basel/Schweiz, Switzer- 254 10,1930 Germany /177 land [22] Filed; Nov. 6, 1970 Primary Examiner-Walter A. Schee] Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe [21] Attorney-Craig, Antonelli & Hill [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT 6, 1969 Germany 19 55 742-7 The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for the treatment of endless textile material lengths which U-S. 5, comprises a container means adapted to contain 3 68/184 treatment liquor and composed of a conveying zone [51] Int. Cl ..B05c 3/134 and dwell zone partition means dividing the dwell [58] new of zone into two channels and a perforated drum means 68/184 subjected to a suction draft rotatably disposed in the conveying zone in such a manner that it is adapted to [56] References C'ted receive the textile material from one of the channels UNlTED STATES PATENTS and introduce it into the other of said channels.

3,510,251 5/1970 Fujii et a1 ..68/177 X 12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDAus 81972 lnventar:

HElNl FLElSSHER BY ls, Antonelh, Stewart-1 m ATTORNE-Yfi DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT OF ENDLESS TEXTILE MATERIAL LENGTHS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of endless material lengths or material lengths, the ends of which are joined. The endless material lengths are treated with dyestuffs, solvents, washing liquors or the like. The apparatus consists of a container adapted to hold the processing medium and the material to be treated including a conveying element. The container comprises a dwelling and a conveymg zone.

This type of processing device, e.g., the winch beck has lately been regaining importance for discontinuous treatment processes, especially for dyeing processes and the like, wherein the material is subjected to high pressure and high-temperature conditions.

As is well known that textile materials are dyed, i.e., the dyestuffs are set on the textile materials-under hightemperature conditions. The temperature used depends on the temperature resistance of the dyestuffs and the material to be dyed. The higher the temperature, the shorter the dyeing or heat-setting period. High temperatures also provide a better swell reaction of the fibers and more rapid penetration and levelling of the dyestuffs. That is why machines have been constructed in which the textile materials can be treated not only under atmospheric pressure but also under high pressure. The high-temperature winch beck is an example of such a machine. It consists of an autoclave which is filled half-way up with dyeing liquor and in which there is disposed a winch and possibly also a guide roller arranged above the liquor level for the material to be conveyed. The ends of the material to be dyed are joined so that an endless rope is produced and the material is then made to dwell in the liquor, possibly after having been slightly plaited. The material is introduced and removed from the liquor by the winch.

This type of dyeing aggregate is only advantageous for the treatment of textile materials which are not adversely afl'ected by lengthwise tension because with such an arrangement of machine elements, the material which is thoroughly wetted with the processing liquor, cannot be prevented from stretching by its very high specific weight when being drawn out of the liquor. Textile materials which cannot stand any lengthwise tension, e. g. fabrics and knit goods can only be dyed in a winch beck if manufacturers are prepared to accept a very disadvantageous material stretch.

When wide materials are to be treated in a winch beck it is also difficult to maintain the material expanded on the winch, i. e. to eliminate any plait formation. The danger of plait formation on the winch is due to the relatively bad adherence of the material on the conveying element. The plaits which may be produced in the material will be fixed therein because the dyeing and dyestuff setting process is carried through under high-temperature conditions in these machines. The material is thus rendered useless.

These problems regarding the dyeing of textile materials in a high-temperature winch beck have caused machine manufacturers to attempt to develop an apparatus in which textile materials which are susceptible to tension can also be guided through the processing liquor several times and dyed and heat-set under high-temperature conditions without any danger of lengthwise stretch.

After several years of experimentation, a dyeing apparatus has now been developed, the conveying element of which are a kind of Venturi tube which operates on the same principle as the water-jet pump. The textile material rope or endless material length is fed into the tube and dragged or pushed through the tube together with the dye liquor which is pressure-injected. There is no lengthwise tension exerted on the material because the textile material floats in the liquor and does not come into contact with the walls of the tube and especially because the liquor is forced to penetrate the material in the diffuser portion of the tube. However, this conveying system is disadvantageous in that its use is restricted to material ropes, to material tubes with a small diameter or to flat materials which can be transformed into a thin long roll. It is impossible to process any other type of material in a jet-dyeing machine because the diameter of the Venturi tube must not exceed a certain limit if good results are to be obtained. Besides, with this machine there is also the danger of plait formation and fixing the plaits in the material by the high-temperature process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide for a device in which both material ropes or tubes and open-width materials can be processed with dyestuffs, solvents, washing liquors or the like without being subjected to any harmful lengthwise tension.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned disadvantages may be eliminated and a much improved apparatus for treating textile materials may be obtained by designing the conveying element as a rotating perforated drum which is subject to a suction draft. The main advantages of a perforated drum which is subject to a suction draft are well known. The material to be treated adheres tightly to the drum jacket, is penetrated by the treatment medium and can be conveyed by the drum at any required speed.

What is important about using an apparatus wherein the conveying element is designed as a perforated drum is not so much the fact that the treatment medium is drawn through the material, but that the material is held on the perforated dnun surface without any tension by the suction draft and can be conveyed by the rotation of the drum.

The material to be treated can be fed to the perforated drum in several ways. It can be advantageous, for instance, if the liquor level extends up to the point where the textile material is transferred from the processing liquor onto the perforated drum or up to the point where the material is released from the drum and again immersed into the liquor in order to be conveyed through a dwelling zone. It is thus possible to let the textile material float to the perforated drum by which it is then taken up, out of the liquor and conveyed without any tension.

It can be of special advantage to arrange the perforated drum in such a way that it is entirely immersed in the liquor so that not only the processing medium which has previously been taken up by the material, but any volume of liquor for example, dyestuffs is drawn through the material. This results in a very uniform and intensive application of the dye particles.

However, in case this feature is not to be taken advantage of, it is, of course, possible to arrange the perforated drum outside the liquor and to feed the material onto the drum by means of some kind of guide elements. This can be made possible by arranging driven guide rollers or the like at the point where, when viewed in the direction of material passage, the material is introduced onto the perforated drum and, if need be, also at the point where the material is again released from the drum.

In the apparatus according to the present invention, wherein the conveying element is designed as a per forated drum, the section of the drum that is not covered by the textile material is preferably screened off from the suction draft by a baffle plate disposed on the inside of the drum jacket. The apparatus can be operated both with atmospheric pressure and under high-temperature conditions. In order to make use of these advantages for dyeing textile materials at a temperature of about 100 to 140 C. for example, the processing liquor container can, similarly as in a hightemperature winch beck, be closed airtight and the processing medium heated up above its boiling point under atmospheric pressure by means of heating aggregates.

In a further development of the present invention, the cross section of such a container, in which the material is treated under excess pressure, can be keyhole shaped. The perforated drum is then arranged in the upper, wide part whereas the lower, narrow part serves as the dwelling zone. The dwelling zone can be designed as a double channel, i.e., the tube can be subdivided by a partition wall.

The holding capacity of an apparatus which is operated under high-temperature conditions and is used for dyeing textile materials, for example, should be very great so that a maximum quantity of material can be treated in a very short time. The conveying speed of a perforated drum can be very high, e.g., up to 200 m/min. Apart from safeguarding the uniform dye penetration with any color shade, the high conveying speeds also ensure shortest possible treatment periods. In order to make it possible to treat a maximum quantity of material in one apparatus, it is advantageous to guide the material in plaited form through the double channel of the dwelling zone by means of the moving liquor. According to the present invention this can be achieved by arranging an aggregate immediately behind the point where the material is released from the perforated drum and returned into the processing liquor, which aggregate moves the material to and fro and plaits it by causing a rhythmical movement of the processing liquor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not lirnitative of .the present invention and wherein,

the perforated drum;

FIG. 2 is a section through the apparatus according to FIG. 1 along the line Il-II; and

FIG. 3 is a section of an apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 1, except that the liquor level is beneath the perforated drum.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus for the treatment of endless textile material lengths comprises a housing 1, the width and length of which depend on the width and length of the material being treated as can be gathered from FIG. 2. FIG. 1, on the other hand, shows that the cross section of the apparatus is roughly key-hole shaped.

In the upper, essentially circular part of the apparatus a perforated drum 2 is arranged. The jacket section of this perforated drum which is not covered by the textile material being treated is screened off from the suction draft which is produced by an axial pump 3 by means of a bafile plate 4 which is disposed at the inside of the drum jacket. v The perforated drum 2 is as wide as the housing 1 and is supported in the front walls of the housing 1 (see FIG. 2). The impeller 4' of the axial pump 3, which is driven by the motor 5 which in its turn is arranged outside the housing 1, axially penetratesone front wall of the perforated drum 2. The axial pump 3 serves for drawing the liquor in the drum in the direction of the arrows 6 and for conveying it via the pump compartment 7 into an annular channel 8 which encircles the perforated drum and from where the liquor is again drawn towards the perforated drum, through the perforated plate 9.

Above the perforated drum 2, the housing 1 has a filling-hole 10 which can be shut'airtight by means of a lid 11. The hermetic closure of the housing 1 by the lid 1 l is absolutely necessary if the device is to be operated under high-temperature conditions. High-temperature conditions are achieved by heating the processing liquor which is contained in the housing with a level 12 which stands above the perforated drum, by means of heating elements 13 which are arranged in the annular channel 8. The liquor is heated, at normal pressure, beyond its boiling point and there is an excess pressure produced in the housing.

When the textile material 14 has been fed into the machine through the filling-hole l0 and when its ends have been joined so that an endless material length is obtained, the high-temperature process can begin after the lid 11 has been shut. The residual air in the housing is exhausted through the valve 15, the processing liquor is heated up to the required temperature and the perforated drum 2 is made to rotate by the motor 16. The

textile material adheres to the jacket of the perforated drum 2 by the suction draft which prevails at the drum surface and is transported by the perforated drum 2 at the rotating speed of the latter. The textile material is thus guided from one part of the channel 17 of the dwelling zone to the other part of said channel and before being introduced onto the perforated drum it can advantageously be guided over two expander rollers 18 which ensure the absolutely plait-free feeding of the material onto the drum surface.

It is apparent that the material which is guided from the perforated drum 2 to the dwelling zone and back from the dwelling zone to the perforated drum 2 is not subjected to any substantial lengthwise tension because it is constantly surrounded by the liquor, i.e., it floats in the liquor. Because of the rotation of the perforated drum and the movement of the material 14 to be treated, the processing liquor in the dwelling zone flows at a certain speed around the bottom edge of the partition wall 19 which subdivides the dwelling zone into the two channels. As a consequence, this apparatus can be used for the dyeing or all kinds of high-temperatureprocessing of any type of textile material, e.g. materials in rope form, woven or knitted materails, tubular knit materials and even tufted materials. All of these materials feature a very full handle after having been processed and, depending on the dyeing time and dyestuff concentration, they will also have the required final color shade.

FIG. 3 shows a device which is similar to that shown in FIG. 1, the difference being that the liquor level 20 is not above but beneath the perforated drum 2'or at the points where the textile material is transferred from the liquor onto the perforated drum or released from the drum and returned to the processing liquor. Thus, the perforated drum is surrounded by air. Similar to the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the upper part of the housing can be shut airtight by means of a lid. Since in this case the textile material which is to be conveyed by the perforated drum adheres to the drum surface by the suction draft of air, a radial fan is utilized instead of an axial pump 3.

The textile material is transferred from the processing liquor to the perforated drum 2 by driven guide rollers 21 so that it is ensured that even materials which do not float in the liquor can be conveyed by the perforated drum without being subjected to any lengthwise tension. At the delivery side of the perforated drums of both devices shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, there are provided elements 22 which ensure the automatic plaiting of the material which then passes the dwelling zone in plaited form.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be apparent to one skilled in the art are intended to be included.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for the treatment of endless textile material lengths which comprises a closed container means adapted to contain a treatment liquor and having a conveying zone and a dwell zone, partition means dividing said dwell zone into two channels each in communication with each other and in communication with said conveying zone, sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft rotatably disposed in the conveying zone, said sieve drum means and said channels being arranged so that said textile material is conveyed in a continuous manner from said sieve drum means into one of said channels around said partition means and through said other channel to said sieve drum means, plait means disposed in said one channel immediately adjacent to said sieve drum means for introducing said textile material into the one channel of said dwell zone, said plait means moving said material to and fro thereby plaiting said material whereby said material is conveyed in a tension-free state through said channels and guide means disposed in said other channel immediately preceeding said sieve drum means for effecting plait-free feeding of said textile material onto said sieve drum means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment liquor fills the dwell zone and establishes a level into the conveying zone up to the point where the textile material is transferred from the treatment liquor to the sieve drum means or the point where the textile materi-' a1 is removed from the sieve conveying means and reintroduced into the treatment liquor for conveyance through the dwelling zone.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein heating means are disposed in the dwell zone of the container below the level of the treatment liquor.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment liquor fills the dwell zone and the sieve drums means is completely immersed in the treatment liquor in the conveying zone.

5. The apparatus co claim 4, wherein heating means are disposed in the conveying zone of the container near the surface of the sieve drum means.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a baffle plate means is disposed inside of that portion of the sieve drum means which is not in contact with the textile material being treated.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cross section of the container means is key-hole shaped and the perforated drum is disposed in the upper, wide portion of said container means.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top of the conveying zone of the container is provided with a filling hole and an airtight lid.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two channels communicated with each other in the lower portion of the dwell zone.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the partition means extends from a point close to the bottom surface of the sieve drum to the lower portion of the dwell zone, said partition means terminating at a point sufiiciently above the bottom of the dwell zone to enable the conveyance of the textile material from one channel to the other.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said guide means comprises a plurality of driven guide rollers disposed immediately subjacent to said sieve drum means.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plait means also causes a rhythmical movement of the treatment liquor through said dwell zone in the direction of travel of said textile material. 

1. An apparatus for the treatment of endless textile material lengths which comprises a closed container means adapted to contain a treatment liquor and having a conveying zone and a dwell zone, partition means dividing said dwell zone into two channels each in communication with each other and in communication with said conveying zone, sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft rotatably disposed in the conveying zone, said sieve drum means and said channels being arranged so that said textile material is conveyed in a continuous manner from said sieve drum means into one of said channels around said partition means and through said other channel to said sieve drum means, plait means disposed in said one channel immediately adjacent to said sieve drum means for introducing said textile material into the one channel of said dwell zone, said plait means moving said material to and fro thereby plaiting said material whereby said material is conveyed in a tension-free state through said channels and guide means disposed in said other channel immediately preceeding said sieve drum means for effecting plait-free feeding of said textile material onto said sieve drum means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment liquor fills the dwell zone and establishes a level into the conveying zone up to the point where the textile material is transferred from the treatment liquor to the sieve drum means or the point where the textile material is removed from the sieve conveying means and reintroduced into the treatment liquor for conveyance through the dwelling zone.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein heating means are disposed in the dwell zone of the container below the level of the treatment liquor.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment liquor fills the dwell zone and the sieve drums means is completely immersed in the treatment liquor in the conveying zone.
 5. The apparatus co claim 4, wherein heating means are disposed in the conveying zone of the container near the surface of the sieve drum means.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a baffle plate means is disposed inside of that portion of the sieve drum means which is not in contact with the textile material being treated.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cross section of the container means is key-hole shaped and the perforated drum is disposed in the upper, wide portion of said container means.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top of the conveying zone of the container is provided with a filling hole and an airtight lid.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two channels communicated with each other in the lower portion of the dwell zone.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the partition means extends from a point close to the bottom surface of the sieve drum To the lower portion of the dwell zone, said partition means terminating at a point sufficiently above the bottom of the dwell zone to enable the conveyance of the textile material from one channel to the other.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said guide means comprises a plurality of driven guide rollers disposed immediately subjacent to said sieve drum means.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plait means also causes a rhythmical movement of the treatment liquor through said dwell zone in the direction of travel of said textile material. 